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Last updated on Wednesday, October 23, 2013
(BLOOMFIELD) - Dates for another round of pre-trial conferences have been set before the two trials of men accused of the murder of 19-year-old Katelyn Wolfe, of Linton.
26-year-old Jordan Buskirk and 25-year-old Randal Crosley, both of Jasonville, have been charged with the murder, conspiracy to commit rape and criminal confinement.
Crosley was also charged with two counts of dealing in a schedule IV controlled substance.
Both are being held without bond. The two will be tried separately in Greene Superior Court.
Buskirk's trial is set for February 3rd. Crosley's case is set for March 3rd.
Those dates could changed if either prosecution or defense should ask for a continuance
A pretrial conference was set for Buskirk's case on November 25 and for Crosley on December 2.
A pretrial conference, held in the judge's chamber, is a meeting between the judge and the attorneys on each side to discuss the upcoming trial and to make sure the case is progressing. It's also a chance for the judge and the attorneys involved to make sure proper procedures and all trial rules are being followed and that both sides are complying with requests for information about evidence and witnesses.
Katelyn Wolfe was reported missing to the Linton Police Department on June 6. Both men are accused of killing Wolfe and dumping her body into a lake in Sullivan County.
Both men were appointed public defenders. Alan Baughman is representing Crosley and Jacob Fish is representing Buskirk. Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw is presenting the case for the state.
Superior Court Judge Dena Martin will preside over the trails. Both attorneys had asked that the trials be moved to another county because of pretrail publicity. Judge Martin issued orders that the cases will remain in Greene County, but the juries will be selected from outside the area. A decision on which county jurors will be picked from has not been reached.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a few days prior to the alleged attack, Buskirk told police that he and Crosley traveled to Terre Haute where they bought condoms, handcuffs, restraint straps, rope and a 20-lb. weight.
Buskirk told investigators the initial plan was to "rape and then murder" and that it was an idea that "popped in their heads."
Buskirk told police they kept the items in the trunk of his car and that they weren't targeting Wolfe specifically, but that they intended to attack someone.
Buskirk told police he and Crosley picked Wolfe up at her home about 1 a.m. then drove around doing drugs and gave Wolfe several pills. After driving around on country roads they stopped the vehicle , got out and opened the rear doors and pinned Wolfe down. There they climbed on top of Wolfe for sexual intent.
Buskirk told police, Crosley started choking Wolfe in a head lock and he let go when he thought she was unconscious.
Buskirk allegedly handcuffed Wolfe behind her back while Crosley taped her mouth shut and duct taped her legs.
Crosley allegedly hit Wolfe in the face multiple times because she was trying to bite them. Buskirk put his own white shirt over her head then put duct tape around her head and neck.
According to the affidavit, Wolfe was still conscious and was trying to talk but could only make noise due to the duct tape.
Buskirk told police he asked Wolfe what she was saying but explained that "Crosley then started saying over and over that she needed to die" and Buskirk took a rope, wrapped it around her neck and choked her until she stopped struggling.
The two men then allegedly dragged Wolfe to the rear of the car and put her in the trunk.
They then drove around getting high and Crosley used Wolfe's cell phone - sending text messages, to his own phone and to his wife Tamera Crosley's cell phone.
The men then drove to a location near Sullivan to conduct a drug deal - Wolfe's body was still in the trunk. The drug deal didn't go through.
Next the two allegedly stopped at another rural location near Sullivan and got the body out of the trunk
Crosley allegedly used a rope to tie the body into a fetal position and connected the rope to a 20-pound weight and put it back in the trunk.
From there, they drove to a lake where they got the body out of the trunk again and dragged it to the top of a hill and let it go.
Wolfe's head struck a tree branch on the way down and was gashed and bled, and then her body got lodged.
Buskirk alleges that Crosley then drug Wolfe's body to a ledge and threw it over a high wall into the lake around 3 a.m..
Buskirk told police that he and Crosley then returned to conducting their "drug business."
The two allegedly cleaned the car out and returned to the lake later in the day to make sure the body had not floated back to the surface. They also disposed of various items in several different locations.
Later, Burskirk took police to the different areas where officers recovered numerous items including duct tape, one of Wolfe's shoes, rope, restraints, the section of the tree that caused a gash in Wolfe's head and a trash bag containing a pair of Buskirk's blue jeans.
Then on Sunday, June 9, police spoke to Randal Crosley's wife Tamera. She told them she had gone out to rural areas she was familiar with to look for Wolfe. She told police she went to the lake where she saw a shoe floating on the surface of the water at the base of high wall.
Officers went to that location that day but did not locate anything on dry land. The next day, on Monday, June 10, they called in Indiana Conservation Officers and Wolfe's body was recovered in the lake around 5 p.m.
After an autopsy, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr ruled that the cause of death was asphyxia due to smothering and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
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